Went in to my cell phone provider (Best Buy Mobile) today to upgrade my phone. My current phone is pretty obsolete and can't really even handle basic app updates anymore. (Every "fun" app has been uninstalled because there's no memory left--I took a photo yesterday and a "camera RAM crash" window came up.) I've been counting down the days and was psyched to get a new phone, especially since I'll be out of town this weekend so a reliable phone would be good to have. Unfortunately I was counting down to the wrong day--for some reason I thought "payday", rather than the actual day--which is Monday, April 1. So one business day early.

The BBM guy said he would try to see if he could get me a phone today. He called the Sprint store. No luck, the computer couldn't do anything.

I went to the Sprint store to see if they could help me. The guy wanted to, but the computer wouldn't let him give me a phone early.

I called customer service, and after being put on hold so the CSR could speak with her supervisor, I was told that I could pay $50 to buy out my contract (remember, one business day early!) or pay the full ~$700 for the phone. They "used to" be able to upgrade people early, but for some reason she didn't explain to me, they "don't do that anymore." I expressed that I was upset, I just wanted a new phone and to give them my money (I would be signing a new 2-year contract as well) and she basically shrugged. Then she asked if she could do anything else for me. I said no, I'll probably be calling on Monday to cancel. "OK. Have a nice rest of your day."

They just lost two customers over $50. Our contract isn't up until June so I'll have to keep this crappy phone for another 2 1/2 months, which irritates me even more, but I'm just so (I know, kind of unreasonably) mad about this.

Huh. That actually sounds like they were pretty reasonable. They tried to offer options for a request that was outside of your contractual terms. I'm sorry they weren't able to accommodate you.

I agree with Moray. I'm sorry it wasn't what you wanted, but I don't think you should drop them for following their own policy.

Went in to my cell phone provider (Best Buy Mobile) today to upgrade my phone. My current phone is pretty obsolete and can't really even handle basic app updates anymore. (Every "fun" app has been uninstalled because there's no memory left--I took a photo yesterday and a "camera RAM crash" window came up.) I've been counting down the days and was psyched to get a new phone, especially since I'll be out of town this weekend so a reliable phone would be good to have. Unfortunately I was counting down to the wrong day--for some reason I thought "payday", rather than the actual day--which is Monday, April 1. So one business day early.

The BBM guy said he would try to see if he could get me a phone today. He called the Sprint store. No luck, the computer couldn't do anything.

I went to the Sprint store to see if they could help me. The guy wanted to, but the computer wouldn't let him give me a phone early.

I called customer service, and after being put on hold so the CSR could speak with her supervisor, I was told that I could pay $50 to buy out my contract (remember, one business day early!) or pay the full ~$700 for the phone. They "used to" be able to upgrade people early, but for some reason she didn't explain to me, they "don't do that anymore." I expressed that I was upset, I just wanted a new phone and to give them my money (I would be signing a new 2-year contract as well) and she basically shrugged. Then she asked if she could do anything else for me. I said no, I'll probably be calling on Monday to cancel. "OK. Have a nice rest of your day."

They just lost two customers over $50. Our contract isn't up until June so I'll have to keep this crappy phone for another 2 1/2 months, which irritates me even more, but I'm just so (I know, kind of unreasonably) mad about this.

Huh. That actually sounds like they were pretty reasonable. They tried to offer options for a request that was outside of your contractual terms. I'm sorry they weren't able to accommodate you.

I agree with Moray. I'm sorry it wasn't what you wanted, but I don't think you should drop them for following their own policy.

I actually don't understand some parts of this story. Is your contract up on Monday April 1, or in two and a half months?

Anyway, I agree they didn't do anything wrong. The first two guys actually wanted to help, but the system (company policy) won't allow it.

The new phone date is Monday, the contract is up in 2 1/2 months. I also don't think it was unreasonable...but it was frustrating that it wasn't possible. Seems like something that shouldn't be out of the realm of their control--and really all I wanted to do was give them money a couple days earlier Really I'm just frustrated with the "big provider" model, where they don't really fulfill all the things they advertise but don't care to help the customer because hey, they don't really need you. I don't ask for a lot from any provider of anything...but I do like feeling like I matter to them and that they want to help make my experience as positive as possible. We're looking into more "independent" providers today.

ETA: Also, each rep I talked to in person really made it sound like the over-the-phone customer service people could make it happen. So being bounced from person to person with a strong hint that it could be made possible, and then being denied, made it more irritating. I was actually told by another rep yesterday to call a more "direct" number and they could easily clear me for a new phone. (At that point I'd decided I wasn't re-signing so I didn't do it, but what I wanted definitely was not out of the realm of possibility.) And I was on my way out of town (not wanting to go with an unreliable phone) to a stressful appointment--not that that's the phone company's fault, but it made the experience that much more frustrating.

If you have access to U.S. Cellular, I highly recommend them as we haven't had any troubles with their customer service at all. Always very pleasant and helpful and when I went to update my phone recently, they even offered to look at our usage history over the last few months and offered that we could change to a different plan which would save us $.

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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

I'll check them out too, thanks. I really don't ask for much from my cell phone company--my reception's been sort of spotty, our "unlimited" data crawls, and we don't get 4G like they advertise, but I've stayed with it. Call this the straw that broke the camel's back.

Went in to my cell phone provider (Best Buy Mobile) today to upgrade my phone. My current phone is pretty obsolete and can't really even handle basic app updates anymore. (Every "fun" app has been uninstalled because there's no memory left--I took a photo yesterday and a "camera RAM crash" window came up.) I've been counting down the days and was psyched to get a new phone, especially since I'll be out of town this weekend so a reliable phone would be good to have. Unfortunately I was counting down to the wrong day--for some reason I thought "payday", rather than the actual day--which is Monday, April 1. So one business day early.

The BBM guy said he would try to see if he could get me a phone today. He called the Sprint store. No luck, the computer couldn't do anything.

I went to the Sprint store to see if they could help me. The guy wanted to, but the computer wouldn't let him give me a phone early.

I called customer service, and after being put on hold so the CSR could speak with her supervisor, I was told that I could pay $50 to buy out my contract (remember, one business day early!) or pay the full ~$700 for the phone. They "used to" be able to upgrade people early, but for some reason she didn't explain to me, they "don't do that anymore." I expressed that I was upset, I just wanted a new phone and to give them my money (I would be signing a new 2-year contract as well) and she basically shrugged. Then she asked if she could do anything else for me. I said no, I'll probably be calling on Monday to cancel. "OK. Have a nice rest of your day."

They just lost two customers over $50. Our contract isn't up until June so I'll have to keep this crappy phone for another 2 1/2 months, which irritates me even more, but I'm just so (I know, kind of unreasonably) mad about this.

Huh. That actually sounds like they were pretty reasonable. They tried to offer options for a request that was outside of your contractual terms. I'm sorry they weren't able to accommodate you.

I agree with Moray. I'm sorry it wasn't what you wanted, but I don't think you should drop them for following their own policy.

Verizon would have upgraded her. I've been upgraded a MONTH early by Verizon. I think Sprint sounds completely unreasonable.

Verizon would have upgraded her. I've been upgraded a MONTH early by Verizon. I think Sprint sounds completely unreasonable.

How long ago? I sell cell phones, and Verizon has really cracked down on moving dates in the last year or so.

This past October. I wasn't due to upgrade until the end of November, but I dropped my iPhone and it got smashed to smithereens on my driveway. It didn't seem to be a problem at all. My daughter's phone was a piece of junk and we wanted to get her a new phone too, so they upgraded her a couple of weeks early.

ETA: I do know that 3rd party Verizon dealers aren't able to offer the same service that actual Verizon stores are able to. Learned that the hard way. I will only deal with actual Verizon stores from now on.

I haven't tried to upgrade early with AT&T in recent years, but every time I call with the least little dispute over my bill, they give me a courtesy credit. I go over my data plan because the "My AT&T" app tells me I'm under (but the *DATA# message tells me something else, and customer service tells me not to worry about it)? I get a courtesy credit. I also got a credit for the activation fee for my last new phone, and to cover the text plan overage when a friend went a little crazy with the drunk texts.

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What part of v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}} don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

"The problem with re-examining your brilliant ideas is that more often than not, you discover they are the intellectual equivalent of saying, 'Hold my beer and watch this!'" - Cindy Couture

I haven't tried to upgrade early with AT&T in recent years, but every time I call with the least little dispute over my bill, they give me a courtesy credit. I go over my data plan because the "My AT&T" app tells me I'm under (but the *DATA# message tells me something else, and customer service tells me not to worry about it)? I get a courtesy credit. I also got a credit for the activation fee for my last new phone, and to cover the text plan overage when a friend went a little crazy with the drunk texts.

I wish the data count was actually real-time, and/or there was an option to turn off the mobile data automatically when you've reached the limit, so you don't go over. I have no idea whether I'll use 3 or 30 and often just shut it off before I get close (wasting the data available to me for fear of going over and being charged double).

I haven't tried to upgrade early with AT&T in recent years, but every time I call with the least little dispute over my bill, they give me a courtesy credit. I go over my data plan because the "My AT&T" app tells me I'm under (but the *DATA# message tells me something else, and customer service tells me not to worry about it)? I get a courtesy credit. I also got a credit for the activation fee for my last new phone, and to cover the text plan overage when a friend went a little crazy with the drunk texts.

I wish the data count was actually real-time, and/or there was an option to turn off the mobile data automatically when you've reached the limit, so you don't go over. I have no idea whether I'll use 3 or 30 and often just shut it off before I get close (wasting the data available to me for fear of going over and being charged double).

I have a reasonably reliable app that tracks my data use, but it's usually a good idea to verify the data use every so often.

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What part of v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}} don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

"The problem with re-examining your brilliant ideas is that more often than not, you discover they are the intellectual equivalent of saying, 'Hold my beer and watch this!'" - Cindy Couture

I have been with Sprint since 2000 and I have never had a problem that couldn't be resolved.

I think if you had asked to speak to the CSR supervisor and then again to his/her supervisor this one day early issue could have been resolved. It is one of those squeaky wheel get the grease kind of deals and it requires all of your patience and any patience that you might have been saving. I have gotten an upgrade two weeks in advance so it can be done it's just a matter of finding the right person to make it happen.

The CSR I spoke with on the phone said she was speaking with a supervisor when she put me on hold the first time. I don't know if that's true or not. I just know that, at that point I'd already spoken to 4 different people about it, and I was tired of the "Well, I can't, but maybe if you do X it'll work..." jingle. I was on a limited time frame as well (because I thought I'd be getting a new phone, not arguing about it.) I went to the two locations in town and also called their customer service line, also posted on their Facebook page, so not sure how much more squeaky I could have been. I could have tried a third location (I was in another city this weekend) and tried the other number given to me by a CSR, but at that point I'd decided they weren't getting my money.

I can see how people see my side as snowflakey--but again, I don't really think what I was asking for was that much to ask. I wanted something I was prepared to pay for, and that really shouldn't have been that difficult to get, especially after reading other peoples' stories. (Like Shoo's story--what if I'd broken my phone and needed it for something?) The CSR on the phone was indifferent and Sprint hasn't tried to reach out to me at all since. I feel like they don't care if they keep me as their customer, so I don't really feel obligated to re-sign with them. :::shrug:::